Node TS CLI

Node TypeScript CLI Generator

Overview

Generate production-ready Node.js CLI tool projects configured with TypeScript, ESM modules, and modern tooling. Each generated project includes a complete setup with build scripts, development workflow, testing, and linting.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user requests:

• "Create a new Node TypeScript CLI tool"
• "Generate a CLI project in TypeScript"
• "Set up a new TypeScript CLI"
• "Make me a Node.js command-line tool"

Project Setup

Quick Start

To generate a new CLI project:

1. Specify the project name and desired CLI command name.
2. The skill will create a new directory unless specified otherwise.
3. Inside the directory, the skill will perform the following steps:
4. Initialize a new Git repository.
5. Run npm init -y to initialize a new npm project.
6. Run npm i -D typescript @types/node @biomejs/biome to install dev dependencies.
7. Run npm i @clack/prompts to install runtime dependencies.
8. Run npx tsc --init to create a tsconfig.json file.
9. Run npx biome init to create a biome.json file.
10. Set up the package.json, tsconfig.json, and biome.json files with the appropriate configurations.
11. Create the necessary source files in src/ including index.ts with a basic CLI structure using the @clack/prompts library.
12. Create example test files in src/ to demonstrate testing with Node's built-in test runner.
13. Add npm scripts for building, developing, testing, linting, and formatting.
14. Inform the user about the available npm scripts

Technology Stack

The generated project uses:

• TypeScript with strict mode enabled
• ESM modules (type: "module")
• tsc for building production builds to ./dist
• tsx for running TypeScript directly in development
• Biome for fast linting and formatting
• Node's built-in test runner with TypeScript support via --experimental-strip-types

Available NPM Scripts

Each generated project includes these scripts:

• npm run build - Compile TypeScript to JavaScript in ./dist
• npm run dev - Run the CLI in development mode with tsx
• npm run test - Run tests with Node's built-in test runner
• npm run lint - Check code with Biome
• npm run lint:fix - Fix linting issues automatically
• npm run format - Format code with Biome

Project Configuration

package.json

• Configured as ESM with "type": "module"
• Includes bin field for CLI installation
• Main entry points to ./dist/index.js

tsconfig.json

• Target: ES2022
• Module: ESNext with bundler resolution
• Outputs to ./dist, sources from ./src
• Strict mode enabled
• Generates declaration files and source maps

biome.json

• Enables linting with recommended rules
• Configured to format code on save

CLI Entry Point Structure

The template src/index.ts includes:

• Shebang for executable scripts (#!/usr/bin/env node)
• Argument parsing with help and version flags for non-interactive use
• Interactive prompts using @clack/prompts
• Async main function with error handling
• Process exit codes for proper CLI behavior

Customization After Generation

After generating a project, users should:

1. Update name and description in package.json
2. Update the bin command name in package.json
3. Set the author and license fields
4. Update version number in both package.json and src/index.ts showVersion()
5. Modify src/index.ts with their CLI logic
6. Update the README with specific usage instructions

Installation for Users

After building the project, users can:

• Run locally: node dist/index.js
• Install globally: npm install -g . then use the bin command
• Publish to npm and install: npm install -g package-name

Example Usage

When a user says: "Create a new TypeScript CLI tool called todo-manager"

1. Run the project generation steps outlined above
2. Update package.json:
   • Change "name" to "todo-manager"
   • Update "description" appropriately
   • Change bin to "todo-manager": "./dist/index.js"
3. Update README.md with the project name
4. Run npm install in the project directory
5. Inform the user: "Project created! Run npm run dev to start developing, or npm run build to compile."